Bundesliga Weekend Wrap Matchday 12: He Said What?

The final whistle has blown, the heat of battle has just abated and the Bundesliga trainer is quickly thrust in front of a microphone to give his take on the action.

Whether his side have won, lost or drawn, whether a controversial incident is still seething inside, he gives his reaction and we bring you the best of the Bundesliga trainer soundbites.

Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 VfB Stuttgart

Heiko Herrlich: “I’m especially happy that we’ve finally kept a clean sheet again. We only gave away a few chances and that was our clear task because we’ve conceded way too many goals already this season. This win took a lot of work from us, but I think I was deserved in the end.”

Markus Weinzierl: “If you want to pick up points in Leverkusen you need to be completely focused for 90 minutes. We won 60 per cent of our challenges and gave a good account of ourselves for large parts of the game. We let the draw slip from our grasp too easily in the end.

“The first goal came from a corner that we have to defend a lot better. It’s very frustrating as we were all caught napping. It would have been possible to leave Leverkusen with a point today. We’ll have to take our performance levels up a notch in our next home game.”

Bayern Munich 3-3 Fortuna Düsseldorf

Niko Kovac: “You can imagine how I feel. I don’t know if there’s a stronger word than angry. Considering we were in control and in the lead for long spells again, I’m not at all happy, but very angry. I just can’t understand we didn’t take the chances we created.

“But the way we defended in the case of all three goals we conceded was much worse. Then it doesn’t matter if we’re facing a promoted team or a Champions League side. If you make mistakes like these you get punished.”

Friedhelm Funkel: “Of course I’m overjoyed we scored the equaliser with the final whistle imminent. The key was we weren’t knocked out of our stride by the two-goal deficit, we continued to be compact. If Bayern had scored a fourth goal it would have probably been over.

“The plan was for Lukebakio to create some chances with his pace. It took a bit of luck for it to work out so well, that he scored three goals today. It feels like a victory if you take a point away from Munich.”

Hertha Berlin 3-3 Hoffenheim

Pal Dardai: “It was an outstanding Bundesliga game for the neutrals. My team played to win but you cannot afford to concede the kind of goals we did at the beginning in the Bundesliga. Nonetheless, we were able to strike one last blow at the end and get the point.

“The spirit and character we showed was fantastic. The team created a good atmosphere today. Everyone is happy, but unfortunately a point isn’t enough.”

Julian Nagelsmann: “The 3-3 draw was deserved, so in that sense we can live with it. The opposition was better today. We saw two teams that defended very poorly today. We didn’t continue to invest as much in the second period, were too flat in certain positions and didn’t defend with enough awareness. With that in mind it wasn’t deserved. I’m not satisfied with our performance.”

Augsburg 1-3 Eintracht Frankfurt

Manuel Baum: “After conceding early after a missed challenge, we came into the match and created some chances. It was disappointing to go into half-time behind and then concede a second straight away. It was difficult to respond when 3-0 down but we can take positives out of how we didn’t give up.

“We continued to create chances and had two clear opportunities to score in stoppage time. Overall, I thought our chance conversion was poor. We simply had to play with more belief in certain situations.”

Adi Hütter: “It was an incredibly tough game in Augsburg. We’re happy to come away with a 3-1 win. We had some great moments, particularly at the start of the match, and we should’ve made it 2-0 before Augsburg even got going. Augsburg were in control after that. I’m just proud that we’ve won here for the first time.”

Mainz 1-2 Borussia Dortmund

Sandro Schwarz: “Today is a day of really mixed emotions – one set of emotions for the performance and another for the result. We needed an initial 15 minutes to get ourselves into the game, but after that we were confident, and we created chances. After 20 minutes the game was completely open. Both teams had chances to take the lead.

“We started the second half superbly and had a great spell. We had a big chance with Alexander Hack before they scored the opener, but we were a bit too open at the back. We reacted really well when we went behind and managed to score an equaliser quickly. But the momentum afterwards just wasn’t on our side.

“We tried everything again, playing from the back. The performance was great, but Dortmund won. Congratulations to our guests.”

Lucien Favre: “It was difficult, but not undeserved. We should’ve been ahead at the break. We completely dominated the game in the first period and were superior, but unfortunately didn’t score. We were lacking a bit of precision and the right movement. We wanted to win here and we’ve managed it.

“We knew it wouldn’t be easy away from home. Alcácer has already played two or three times from the start. But he needs time. He didn’t play regularly for a long time in Spain. We’re looking at the table but will continue to take it one game at a time. It’s not only Bayern; other teams are playing well too: Gladbach, Frankfurt, Hoffenheim, Leipzig. All the matches are tight.

“We’re focusing on the next match, against Bruges on Wednesday. Our aim is to have fun in training and to improve, individually and as a team.”

VfL Wolfsburg 1-0 RB Leipzig

Bruno Labbadia: “We went into the game with real belief. We didn’t want to allow them to settle in the opening stages because they’re good in transition and can play good football on top of that. In the first half we played well, but didn’t score the goal. A couple of times we just missed the final pass, but we also had some big chances.

“From that point of view, we deserved to be leading at half-time. We caused them regular problems in the second half and played really well. The team then defended resolutely and passionately when Leipzig threw more and more men forward. That’s how we didn’t allow them many chances in the final 30 minutes.

“It was a very, very important win for us, because the team finally got a reward for all the effort over the last few weeks and months.”

Ralf Rangnick: “As expected, it was a tough game after the international break. The key moment was the minute around the goal, when we twice had the chance to go ahead. If we’d done so, we would probably have even had the chance to win.

“At the end of the day, we shouldn’t complain about losing – as well as the injury absentees, we had too many players today who didn’t perform as they usually do.”

Schalke 5-2 Nürnberg

Domenico Tedesco: “It was a very disjointed game. We simply defended badly. Our resistance against the counter wasn’t good and we sat too deep. The score could have been different at half time.

“In the second half we had a bit more stability and we won more 50-50’s. Because we were winning the ball, we were able to work some chances. We used these and deserved the win in the end.

“I’m pleased for Steven Skrzybski. He always gives his all in training and he’s a great guy. He’s got a great mentality and makes a lot of runs from deep. He deserved his two goals today.”

Michael Köllner: “It was a difficult game. There were a few decisions that were debatable. They weren’t judged correctly and there was a lot of theatrics in the game. We created a lot of chances and I think we have played a good game here.”

Freiburg v Werder Bremen (Sunday)

Borussia Mönchengladbach (Sunday)

Mathew Burt

A year spent living in Bremen got Mathew hooked on the Bundesliga with regular visits to the Weser Stadion getting in the way of his studies. Back in the UK now, he still keenly follows the Grün-Weißen and German football in general. Follow him on Twitter @matburt74.

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